October 16, 2002
Motorola selling its PowerPC division?
The
New York Times reports that
Motorola stock plummeted more than 20 percent on a very bad third quarter. And, most important for the Mac, there are rumors that they may sell their semiconductor business, which presumably includes the PowerPC.
"But sales for the quarter were lower than expected, and the sharply reduced outlook made clear that Motorola's plans for a stronger turnaround are being seriously impeded by the rocky economic recovery. ...
"The long-slumping semiconductor division is expected to show a slight profit in the fourth quarter, Motorola executives said Wednesday, but the operating margin will be flat.
"Galvin declined comment on rumors about pending Motorola deals, the latest being a Financial Times of London report that Europe's biggest chipmaker, STMicroelectronics, is in talks to buy Motorola's semiconductor operations."
This sure would be major news in the Mac world if it happens. Heck, losing a major semiconductor business to the Europeans, would be a very big deal for the US at large. Especially one of the most technologically advanced ones.
Everybody's been talking about OSX while ignoring this ever-growing crater at the foundation of it all. At the moment OSX runs only on machines with Motorola chips, and Apple is the only purchaser of those chips. Given the tech downturn I just don't see how they can continue to produce these on a cost-efficient basis.
IBM also makes PowerPC chips, and has recently announced new advances in them, but whether they're prepared to meet all of Apple's demands is highly questionable. That would amount to a major new investment at a time when, as they say, the chips are down. (Sorry ;))
